Justice delayed and denied: No apex court for AJK litigants

Supreme Court is ‘non-existent’ under the state’s constitution as it has a chief justice but no permanent judges.

MIRPUR:

Owing to a number of vacancies in the Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the court is yet to be constituted as prescribed under the state’s constitution.

Under sub-section 3 of section 42 of AJK’s Interim Constitution Act 1974, the state SC comprises a chief justice and two judges. But while the court currently has a chief justice, no permanent judges have been appointed to the apex court. Only one ad hoc judge is part of the court right now.

Thereby, in the constitution’s language, the court does not exist.

Current AJK Chief Justice Muhammad Azam Khan took office on June 25. He was the only permanent judge when former CJ Khawaja Shahaad Ahmed retired on May 15.

The incompletion of the court has led to problems for the AJK High Court. Two HC judges, Muhammad Younis Tahir and Rafiullah Sultani, had challenged in the SC the high court’s decision to terminate their services. The SC had ordered that no judge should be appointed in the AJK HC, against the positions of Tahir and Sultani until the SC decides on their appeals.

What further complicates the issue is that according to the AJK state’s constitution, an ad hoc judge cannot be appointed as permanent judge. However, the AJK CJ is only allowed to appoint an ad hoc judge when all permanent judges are hearing one or more cases.

“Failure to appoint permanent judges against vacant positions has resulted in a loss of confidence and trust of the people in the AJK judicial system,” said former AJK CJ Abdul Majeed Mallick. “Litigants travel from distant areas to appear before the top court but their cases are adjourned without any progress.”

Kamran Tariq, President of the Mirpur District Bar Association, agreed that this inordinate delay in the court’s completion was disillusioning people. “Dispensation of speedy and inexpensive justice from the apex court seems unlikely because of its present incomplete structure,” he said, calling the government’s attention towards the gravity of the situation.

Seasoned Mirpur-based lawyer Ramzan Dutt said that the prolonged wait for justice for the needy is also making justice more expensive.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2011.